This sacred space, now known as Earth Advocates Research Farm(EARF), was established in the fall of 1991. It is a non-academically and non-governmentally affiliated informal not for profit organization located in the low rolling hills of Southern middle Tennessee. Here we host a number of Bamboo, Permaculture, and Bioregionally related events.

Mission Statement

Many years ago: • As awareness of the cumulative abuse and increasing fragility of our planet’s ecosystems became inescapable, and• Noticing that our land grant universities were/are paying less and less attention to the needs of small land holders, and• Realizing we lacked reliable information on sustainability or even what might constitute good stewardship:

We, as advocates for the planet and in service to the sacred, dedicated our farm and our lives to researching strategies, techniques and insights to

address these shortcomings, with a specific focus on the needs of the people andland of middle Tennessee. To this end we research, evolve, demonstrate and share information and insights that have proven appropriate for middle Tennessee and climatically similar areas. We seek to understand the processes, relationships, and natural cycles so as to better realize our human potential as responsive co-participants and hopefully become better stewards. Much of our work is on the elemental level – i.e. fire, water, earth, air, & spirit – and, of course, their complex interconnected relationships. Realizing that we are part of it all, we’d like to get better at it.

EARF is the home of ‘Our’ Bamboo Nursery, featuring our hardy Landscape Grade Bamboos. At EARF we grow or have grown around 350 species and forms of hardy Bamboos as well as myriad other obscure but potentially useful plant species under performance trials in display gardens and groves. As an aspect of our Bamboo research, we operated a USDA approved Bamboo import/quarantine station for many years and successfully introduced several taxa not previously available in the U.S.

EARF previously published the illustrated journal, Temperate Bamboo Quarterly, back volumes of which are still available along with several other books on Bamboo which we published &/or contributed to. Through the Bamboo Institute of Tennessee we offer classes and intensive short courses.

EARF is mainly funded by the dba -- 'Our' Bamboo Nursery, as well as revenue from consultations, courses and donations to support our research. Recently we have become retail vendors of useful neglect tolerant plants at the Franklin (Tennessee) Farmer’s Market several Saturdays each month during the planting season. We approach this as primarily an opportunity for local education and outreach and, of course, it helps with needed funding as the Bamboo business slows down.

EARF maintains an extensive Research and Bamboo and Ethnobotanical library. We can and have provided speakers to address various aspects of Bamboo, Permaculture, Applied Ethnobotany, Sustainable Gardening & related topics such as soil building and water harvesting in the U.S. and internationally. See list of previous presentation topics and venues.

Elders, Adam Turtle FLS and Susanne E. Turtle are the resident stewards and principal researchers/co-coordinators. We can be reached at: